Celebrating the Fifth Anniversary of Florida's Bottom Line

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Dear Friends,

It brings me great pleasure to introduce our five-year anniversary edition of Florida's Bottom
Line, our award-winning, quarterly online economic magazine. Over
the past five years this publication has provided Floridians with an inside look
at everything from Florida's infrastructure, financial markets and international
trade to Florida's veteran-owned businesses,
small businesses and much more. I'd like to thank everyone who has partnered
with us to make this publication a success, and I'd like to thank the tens of
thousands of readers who have shown a continued interest in the financial health
of our great state. We are very proud that our website has been visited over
140,000 times since its launch. If you haven't taken a look, I invite you to
check it out.

When I took office in 2011, Florida remained in the midst
of a recession that hit our state more severely than other states. We had some
of our highest unemployment rates, our lowest GDP, and a housing market that was
slowly starting to rebuild. In the years since, Florida's economy has seen a
remarkable recovery, which we have followed intently over the last five
years.

During our initial launch of this publication, our goal was to
provide current information and in-depth analysis on Florida's economy to all
Floridians. We decided to embark on this journey because these topics were
vitally important to consumers, businesses, and community leaders, but there was
no commentary or information readily available for consumption. With that goal
in mind, we have been steadfast and dedicated to providing you with the most
relevant information on a quarterly basis. In total, we have released 21
editions, in addition to five special editions, that have featured more than 80
guest author articles from scholars, business leaders, top government officials,
and even former Governor Jeb Bush.

As is fitting for our five-year
anniversary edition of Florida's Bottom Line, I plan to recap the journey that
we have been through, the obstacles that we have overcome, the challenges that
we have conquered, and the achievements we have earned. While this edition may
be focused on how far we have come as a state, there is still more work to be
done, and I am sure that we will continue to grow and build on the foundation
that we have so carefully cultivated in recent years. I am proud of the
prosperity of our great state and know the best is yet to come as we stay on
course.

I hope you'll take a couple minutes out of your day to read our
latest edition here.